Owners and operators of trucks and other mobile vehicles often travel to areas with which they are unfamiliar. Even in areas with which they are familiar, there are often nearby resources for obtaining goods and services for their vehicles, and for other purposes, of which they are unaware.
Conversely, dealers of trucks and other automotive products and services incur enormous costs in advertising their products. Unfortunately, much of this expense is wasted when a large percentage of the audience exposed to their radio, print, or other media-based advertisements may have no need or desire for the product or service advertised, because they do not own the particular type of vehicle for which the product or service is available, or their vehicle does not currently need the particular product or service, or because they are not located near (or do not know they're located near) a convenient source for the advertised product or service.
It would be advantageous for vehicle owners and operators to be made aware of potential needs that their vehicle might require, and also of nearby resources for satisfying that need. It would also be mutually advantageous for vehicle manufacturers and/or dealers, as well as for owners and operators, if a vehicle occupant could be alerted to these possible needs by means of an advertisement or other message directing the vehicle operator to a particular service center, store, or other resource in the vicinity of the vehicle.
Conventional systems are available that can tell the driver of the vehicle his position, and there are systems that can provide maps to desired destinations. However, these systems do not focus the available information to the needs of the driver. Conventional systems are available that alert a driver if there is a problem with his vehicle. And of course, conventional systems are available to direct advertising at vehicle drivers (e.g., billboards, commercial radio, etc.).
However, no systems are available that choose and communicate advertising or advisory messages to a driver based on some physical attribute of the vehicle (e.g., type of vehicle, condition of vehicle, etc.), the vehicle's position, and/or need of the operator. Such a system would allow precise targeting of advertisements and/or advisory messages.
The invention is directed toward addressing one or more of the above concerns.